


willing

by lester_sheehan



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-02
Updated: 2015-07-02
Packaged: 2018-04-07 08:24:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4256325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lester_sheehan/pseuds/lester_sheehan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Regina saves Snow from an incoming attack.</p>
            </blockquote>





	willing

They’ve been fighting for a while now. Sweat clings to their foreheads, limbs weary, as they ward off the beasts that come their way. David with his sword, Snow with her arrow, Regina with the fire and rage that burn strongly in her palms. 

They’re growing tired, but the creatures do not relent. If anything, they seem to increase in number, in ruthlessness. Snow wipes a hand across her face, but that’s all it takes. A creature swarms towards her, and despite her fumbling hands and almost fast enough recovery, Regina knows that it’s too late. She’s not going to make it in time.

And for one moment, one sparing, fleeting moment, all she sees is the young girl she saved on a hill so very long ago. The damp air clings to her face as she storms towards Snow, throwing herself between the Princess and the monster. She’s not sure what she’s doing, can’t quite make sense of it herself. _Why does she care?_

A talon pierces Regina’s stomach, red seeping out the crevice, pouring from the wound in a river of red. She raises her hand, the first embers of a flame igniting within her palm, but the creature is faster yet again. As a wing collides with the side of her head, Regina is thrown to the floor, and if her mind was clearer, her senses sharper, she would have heard the haunting sound of Snow screaming her name. 

Pain overcomes her, floods into her lungs like water, weighing her down; she carries it like a burden. She’s trapped and hurting and all she can taste is a bitter, metallic tang and feel the roughness of mud against her lips. One hand clutched to her stomach, the other haphazardly splayed out beside her, she lets her eyes close. 

***

The first thing her body registers is the touch of arms holding her close and the rise and fall of laboured breathing. She jolts instantly and tries to sit upright, but her efforts are quickly quenched. Snow’s face is above her own, as though the girl is standing achingly close, peering down at her with too much pity, hands on her shoulders. Even in such a hazy state, it makes Regina feel uneasy.

She takes a moment to gather her bearings, glancing up to realise that she’s held in David’s arms. Rolling her eyes, she lulls her head to the side, as if the movement will somehow increase the distance between them. She mumbles something about being _completely fine_ , and _how dare they assume that she is incapable of now walking_. “If you’re fond of your hands,” she slurs, mind reeling, “then I suggest you put me down.”

David scoffs at her empty threat and shakes his head. “And if you’re as fine as you declare, simply magic yourself away. Or better yet, get us _all_ out of here.”

She knows that he’s right the minute she goes to move her hand, a searing pain shooting through her side and travelling along her body. It seems to engulf her, such a small motion, and a part of her fears what anything more would do. “Perhaps I don’t wish to waste it on you,” she mumbles, and David doesn’t respond, lets her have this one.

At some point shortly after, she fades into blackness again, listening to the flow of conversation between David and Snow, the constant voices somehow soothing. Later, she’ll tell herself that she must have been delirious, that the idiot Charmings had nothing to offer her- aside from annoyance and severe discomfort, of course- but she doesn’t forget the way their presence reminded her of a past long forgotten, a time when she was someone else entirely. 

And she doesn’t forget how willing she was to protect them.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this, please take a look at some of my other OUAT works. Thank you :)


End file.
